Scientific Peer-Review Processes in Setting Environmental Quality Standards in Japan

摘要

In this short commentary, we will discuss some of the interesting topics on the "Leadership Responsibility" in relation to "scientific peer review" presented by the Patton and Olin paper (Patton & Olin, 2005), taking a case of "Japanese peer-review process" in setting the environmental quality standards. We hope that our case may highlight how different types of "scientific peer review" have been practiced in Japan. Needless to say that the peer-review process used in the regulatory decision making takes a different form depending on the target areas of regulatory decision making, as pointed out by the P-O paper and others (U.S. EPA, 2000). It also depends on the development stages of scientific knowledge and experts in both public and private domains in that particular regulatory policy arena. To discuss the case of setting the environmental regulatory measures, the following issues of the leadership responsibilities are particularly taken into consideration in our commentary. Those are: (1) creating the institutional culture of peer review, (2) distinguishing peer review from other review processes, and (3) selecting reviewers of other perspectives and disciplines.